


We're Getting the Band Back Together

by ladydeathfaerie



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Language, Nick Fury is a badass, Rescue Mission, Rhodey is a badass, Sam Wilson is a badass, everybody is friends with everybody, no real hospitals were destroyed in the making of this fic, okay. they're all badasses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-19
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-02-09 13:19:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1984443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydeathfaerie/pseuds/ladydeathfaerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>S.H.I.E.L.D. has fallen. Nick Fury is dead. Jasper Sitwell is stuck in a hospital bed, surrounded by HYDRA agents and wondering when and how his life got so fucking messed up. When it becomes apparent that HYDRA has no further use for him, Jasper decides to act in the hopes that he get out of there alive. </p>
<p>His hopes and prayers are answered by an unlikely team, but getting away from HYDRA seems easy in comparison to proving his loyalty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We're Getting the Band Back Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TeaJay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaJay/gifts).



> written for the Marvel_POC fanwork festival, celebrating Characters of Color in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. my recipient had several good ideas for the fic they wanted and lots of kinks/tropes they liked. i hope i delivered on at least one of them!
> 
> this fic is set after Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the season finale of Agents of SHIELD, so if you're not familiar and don't want to be spoiled, this is your warning.

Jasper sighed and used the remote to flick off the television. He could only watch the helicarriers crashing into what had once been S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters so many times before he wanted to strangle people. It was horrific to see all the destruction and he hated that the major news stations seemed to be playing the footage pretty much every hour on the hour. He couldn't stomach watching it anymore. 

How many good agents had lost their lives that day? None of the reports could explain exactly what happened to three flying fortresses that caused them to come crashing down the way they did. All they could do was speculate. Jasper was tired of listening to them speculate. He had a pretty damned good idea what had happened to them, anyway. Images of Steve Rogers' face, chin set and expression grim, flooded his head. Yeah. He was pretty damned sure that Rogers was responsible for the destruction of the helicarriers. 

Good riddance. He was glad someone had had the courage to stand up to HYDRA. Jasper had known the moment Rogers had been surrounded by all those agents in the elevator that there was no way Captain America would roll over and show his belly to the group that he'd worked so hard to destroy back in the Forties. Jasper would have liked to have seen Captain America go up against his old foe once again. Some things weren't meant to be, though. 

This wasn't where he'd seen himself ending up when Fury had come to him with the proposition. Fury had told Jasper that there was something strange happening within S.H.I.E.L.D., that he'd suspected HYDRA was trying to rise again. He'd said he needed someone on the inside. Someone to be his eyes and ears. Someone who would be able to get him some positive proof. He'd told Jasper that he felt Sitwell was the best man for the job. _"Your patsy is legendary, Jasper. Phil said so himself."_ It had been hard to accept, because Jasper had always been loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. and to Fury himself. There was no way he'd wanted to do it. But hearing praise heaped on him by a fallen colleague, hearing those words from Fury's mouth, had convinced him that it was the right thing to do. 

And so Jasper had taken on the task of infiltrating HYDRA's ranks. If anyone had thought it odd that he'd joined HYDRA, they'd never said anything. Jasper had figured that even Nazi organizations needed diversity. Whatever the reason, he'd gotten in. And he'd moved his way steadily up the ranks. He'd reported everything he could to Fury, when he could report it. Mostly he'd kept his head down and made people think he was just another dedicated HYDRA agent. It had worked for a good long time.

They'd been close to finding out what was going on. So close. Jasper had just made a report to Fury a week before HYDRA had made their move and taken him out. Jasper was still upset that he hadn't been able to stop the assassination attempt. That he hadn't been able to help Fury in his hour of need. And then, before he'd had time to consider getting the hell out of it all, Rogers had gone and fucked everything up. If he hadn't been in that car with Rogers, Romanova, and the guy driving, chances are good that he wouldn't have ended up meeting the front end of a Ford at high speed. Jasper was still trying to figure out how he'd survived both the Winter Soldier and traffic.

Muffled voices in the hallway brought him back to the here and now, and he took a moment to try and focus in on their words. It was hard to hear with the door closed, but a sixth sense that had served Jasper well in the past suggested that they were talking about ways to tie up loose ends. That was exactly what he was and he knew it. Frowning, Jasper realized that his luck was about to run out on him. He had one chance and one chance only...

He waited until the owners of the voices had moved on from his door, then carefully shifted his still healing body toward the edge of the bed. He'd discovered the remnants of his clothing and personal items in the stand beside his bed just the other day. After some fumbling, his fingers closed over the thin length of his tie clip. "Please, God. If you're listening to requests today, please let this work." 

It was easy to find the button in the center of the clip. Hard to push the button, because there was a part of him that was sure no one would answer his distress call. All of the news agencies had been reporting for days that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't exist anymore, that it was officially considered a terrorist organization and any agents that surfaced were to be treated as such. Which meant they were to be either captured or shot on sight. Jasper didn't think he'd find any help from that end. But he still had to try. 

~*~*~*~*~

He was dozing lightly when he heard the soft click of the door's latch catching. He made sure not to move, unwilling to give away that he was aware of his company until he knew for sure what was going to happen. He barely heard the footsteps as they moved across the linoleum but he could feel a presence leaning over him. "Seriously, Sitwell. I risk my ass to come in here and bust you out and you're playing possum with me? Is that your plan for escaping before HYDRA finishes you off?" 

He heard the voice. But he didn't believe it. Last he'd heard, the man was dead. But if anyone could fake his death, it was Fury. Jasper pried his eyes open and looked up to find Nick Fury, live and in the flesh, standing over him. Gone was the long leather trench coat and the black eye patch. In its place was a pair of dark sunglasses and an old, beat up hoodie. The actual hood had been pulled up over the cap Fury had pulled over his head. "Sir? I thought you were dead, sir." 

"A lie. A necessary lie. Hard to take an organization down when they're trying to kill you," Fury replied. 

"Yes, sir," Jasper replied. The shock was wearing off, his mind already working on turning over all of the information he had. "How did you find me, sir?" 

"Stop calling me sir, Jasper. I'm not the head of shit right now," Nick ordered. His head nodded toward the window, indicating the world that existed on the other side of the thick pane of glass. "In case you haven't heard, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't exist anymore."

"I've heard. Excuse me for asking, but what are you doing here?" 

Fury pulled open the drawer that contained Jasper's personal property and reached in. His fingers came out with the tie clip grasped between them. "This brought me here. Smart move, tripping the beacon. I've been monitoring all the frequencies, trying to help agents where I could. But that's hard to do without personnel and equipment. But I'm working on recruiting some help." 

"What kind of help?" 

There were voices outside in the hall, moving closer to Jasper's door. Fury shook his head and moved toward it. One hand fished into the pocket of his coat and brought out a tube of something that he ended up squeezing into the narrow gap between the door and the door's frame. "Sadly, I don't have time to answer all of your questions right now. That won't hold them for long and you need to get come clothes on."

There was a note of authority in Fury's voice and Jasper responded to it immediately. He stood and carefully began unhooking himself from all of the machines they had him tied into. The IV was tricky and took longer than he liked, but he managed to get the needle out with little trouble. Fury then handed him a pair of sweat pants and the matching sweat shirt. Jasper hurried into them as best he could. He didn't have shoes but there were socks and that was good enough. When he was dressed, he looked at Fury, then turned his attention to the door. "What next, boss? How do we get out of here? You may have been able to walk right through the front door, but there's no way in hell we can go out the way we came." 

Fury smiled at him, flashed his teeth in a grim grin that promised pain upon anyone who got in his way. "I came prepared. You might want to get down behind the bed. Where its safe." Even before he finished speaking, Fury was ducking into the bathroom. Jasper glanced out the window to see a couple of figures moving closer. There was no mistaking the brightly painted suit belonging to Iron Patriot. But Jasper didn't know who the other person was.

Iron Patriot took position, prompting Jasper to dive for the floor. Seconds later, there was a small explosion. Glass shattered and sprayed the room, as did small bits of concrete and other materials. Soon enough, there was the sound of metal hitting the floor. "Director Fury, I think its time we go." Jasper recognized Colonel Rhodes' voice. It wasn't digitized, which told Jasper that the face mask was up. 

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me something else. I'm not director of shit," Fury's voice came from the bathroom. A moment later, he was there to offer Jasper a hand up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You told me we were rescuing a captive S.H.I.E.L.D. agent from HYDRA. You didn't say anything about rescuing a traitor," the fourth man said. Jasper recognized him from that day on the roof and their subsequent car drive. 

"Well, shit," he muttered. This was going to be fun.

"I don't believe I asked for your opinion, Mr. Wilson," Fury replied, voice holding a hint of that old steel that sent junior agents running. The man called Wilson folded his arms over his chest and gave Nick a stubborn look. 

"He betrayed Cap and his country." 

"He infiltrated HYDRA on my orders," Fury countered. "Do you really think, if he'd been HYDRA, that he'd have given you the information he did? Do you think it would have been as easy as it was? Jasper worked his way into HYDRA in order to feed me information. Agent Sitwell was one of my best agents. He deserves your respect. If you have problems with my mission, you can go back to running down the Winter Soldier with Cap. You'll recall how well it worked out the last time you met him." 

"I hate to break up this love fest, but that door won't hold much longer," Colonel Rhodes said, one armored hand motioning toward the door behind them. Jasper glanced over his shoulder to see that the door was starting to move. "You two can bitch at each other once we get the hell out of here." 

"This is your back up plan, sir?" Jasper asked, eying the glass and rubble between him and the giant opening in the wall. 

"Not a word," Fury warned, then crunched across the floor to were Colonel Rhodes stood waiting. Jasper climbed up on the bed and inched closer to where Wilson stood. "Jasper Sitwell, meet Sam Wilson. Sam, this is Jasper. I trust you to get his ass out of here without problems. Do not drop him!" 

The next few minutes seemed to happen in a matter of seconds. Director Fury let Colonel Rhodes wrap an arm around him and then the two of them were disappearing through the big hole in the wall. Jasper eyed Sam Wilson for a moment. "If you drop me, I swear I'll haunt you to the end of time." 

Sam gave him a look, then moved to the bed and carefully slid an arm around him. "I don't know if I should trust you or not. But I trust Fury. And that will have to do for now. Hold tight and don't let go. The last thing I want is for Fury to be pissed at me. And I sure as hell don't want your ghost haunting my ass for all of eternity." 

Jasper couldn't stop the smile that came, and he allowed Sam to work him into his grip. Jasper could hear the door giving way, the wood splintering under the weight of the men trying to budge it from the other side. Sam glanced at it, then took a run at the hole and leapt out into empty air. For a moment, Jasper had this horrible feeling that they were going to fall and hit the ground. Then Sam's wings spread and they lifted up into the air. The ground and the hospital fell away, getting smaller and smaller, until they were specks in the distance. 

Jasper laughed. He was free and he was alive. And he was flying.

~*~*~*~*~

After touch down on a roof a mile or so from the hospital, the four of them transferred to a plain blue van being driven by someone Jasper didn't know. They rode in silence, the radio tuned to a station that talked of the explosion at the hospital. The authorities were naming it a gas leak and all of the patients were safe. No one was killed, fortunately, and the cause of the explosion was being looked into by the proper groups. There was no mention made of either S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA in the report. For the time being, it seemed as if they were safe. 

The drive lasted for a while, during which time Sam checked Jasper over from head to toe, ensuring that he hadn't sustained any new wounds in the escape and that the ones he'd gotten from being thrown out of a car were not life threatening. When he was done, Jasper gave Fury a quick run down of the things he'd heard in the days between hearing that Nick was dead and meeting the Winter Soldier on the highway. By the time that was done, the van had come to a halt inside some kind of underground tunnel. From there, they moved deeper into what turned out to be a series of hidden tunnels. 

Their journey finally stopped in what appeared to be a meeting room. Debriefing, Jasper thought, and took a seat at the table when everyone else did. Someone came in bearing a tray with food and drinks. If they gave Jasper a look, he pretended not to notice. Then they were gone after a glare from Fury and the four of them were left alone. "Alexander Pierce is dead," Fury started off. 

"I'm sorry, sir," Jasper said. And he was. Pierce had been Fury's friend for a long time. 

Fury waved it off and poured himself a cup of coffee. "Its over and done with. What's important now is fixing what he and his ilk broke. We need to find all of the agents who were left out in the cold by the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and we need to bring them home." 

"Home to what, sir? S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone. Its nothing more than a bad memory. We're nothing more than bad memories." It hurt to say it, because S.H.I.E.L.D. had been his home for a long time. He'd made good friends there. He'd been dedicated to the organization. He'd been loyal to it. And to Fury. To see what was left was painful. 

"We're going to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. and we're going to need good agents to fill the ranks." Fury said it so matter-of-factly. As if they were discussing the weather. Not rebuilding a mostly secret government agency that dealt with some of the weirdest shit that the world had ever seen. Like that was an every day conversation. Jasper shook his head and glanced around the table. 

"The four of us are going to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D.? How are we even going to go about that?" 

"Not us. We're not rebuilding it. At least, not the way you think," Fury replied. He motioned to each of them in turn. "We're just going to be the grunts in this, finding the agents left out in the cold and then finding a way to get them home. Naturally, we have to determine if they're loyal to us or if they're HYDRA. If they're loyal to us, they'll be given a choice of working for the new director or moving on to civilian life." 

Jasper frowned. "New director? Why is there a new director? Why aren't you the director, sir?" 

"Because the world thinks I'm dead, Sitwell. And I can hunt down our people and HYDRA with a great deal of ease if people continue to think I'm dead. Later, when everything is righted again, we'll see whether or not I come out of the shadows. For now, let's just rebuild." 

"But who is the new director? Is it Maria?" 

"Hill is under the watchful eye of every other alphabet agency the country has. And some they made up. They're waiting for her to screw up so they can go in and arrest her for crimes she never committed. She's better off with Stark and his people." Fury drew a laptop that rested on the corner of the table closer to him and opened it. The screen flickered to life when he tapped a button, then he was typing away at the keyboard. Moments later, an image flickered to life on the screen and Jasper nearly fell out of his chair. 

"Sir?" Phil Coulson asked from where ever he was, looking as alive as Fury. 

"Director Coulson, I'd like to personally inform you that Agent Sitwell has been located and brought safely to one of our secret bases. I'm in the process of debriefing him." Fury turned the laptop just a bit, allowing the image of Coulson to look at Jasper.

"Phil?" Jasper asked.

"Its good to see you again, Jasper. I already know about your deep cover mission, of course. Good work with that, by the way. Welcome back to the team." Phil's smile was warm and sincere. "I'd like you to work with Director Fury--" 

Fury cut him off with a sound of frustration. "Damn it, Phil. We've been over this time and time again." 

"Old habits. Sorry." Phil didn't sound very sorry. In fact, he sounded really smug. "As I was saying, I would like it if you'd work with Director Fury and his team, seeking out agents who were left out in the cold. Bring them home. Build up the ranks." 

"Of course. I'd be happy to. When do I start?" 

"Finish healing up. Director Fury will give you your orders." Without another word, Phil cut the feed and the laptop's screen went blank. Fury closed the top and pushed it aside. He gave his attention fully to Jasper. 

"Think you can handle this? It won't be easy. And we don't have many allies at the moment." Jasper turned to look at both Colonel Rhodes and Sam Wilson. They were seated across the table, both of them watching Jasper and Fury with sharp gazes. 

"These the only allies we've got?" Jasper asked. 

Fury grimaced. He obviously didn't like that there weren't more people they could depend on to commit to this operation. "Among others. Maria is doing what she can from inside Stark Industries. She's found five people so far."

"My suit is tuned in to the S.H.I.E.L.D. emergency frequencies. And I'm pretty sure Jarvis is monitoring things for Tony. He won't be helping in any official capacity as Iron Man, but he's still working behind the scenes. You'd be amazed at just how many public appearances Tony's made all over the world lately." Colonel Rhodes wasn't wearing a smug expression on his face, but he didn't need to. It was there in his voice. The man was excessively proud of the way his friend had stepped up to help.

Jasper should not be amazed. Realistically, it would be pretty easy for Tony Stark to sneak someone onto his private jet and bring them home with minimal fuss. Because while people paid attention to what Tony Stark did, they didn't really pay _attention_ to what Tony Stark did. However, Colonel Rhodes worked for the government. The same government that had declared S.H.I.E.L.D. a terrorist organization. By rights, the man should be bringing people like Jasper and Director Fury in. He definitely shouldn't be aiding them in their endeavors. Jasper knew it would cost him everything if it was discovered that he was rescuing agents that his bosses had declared to be traitors.

Jasper looked at Colonel Rhodes, mouth dropping open to ask a question. The man smiled before Jasper could even get the words out. "You'd be amazed at just how formidable Tony's lawyers are."

The tone of Colonel Rhodes' voice and the look on his face suggested that there was nothing further to discuss. Jasper wasn't sure if the man was helping because Director Fury had convinced him to help or if Colonel Rhodes was a good friend and wanted to help Director Fury or if he simply felt it was the right thing to do. Whatever his reasons for helping, Jasper wasn't about to pry. It was none of his business unless the other man wanted to change that. 

With Colonel Rhodes done talking, Jasper's attention shifted to where Sam Wilson sat. It was easy to see that the man still harbored some distrust for Jasper. "Last time I saw you, I got the impression you were Steve Rogers' best buddy. Why aren't you with him now?" 

Wilson looked Jasper over for a moment before tightening his lips down in a blatantly disapproving frown. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Jasper. "Steve's trailing after the Winter Soldier. He'll be fine without me for a couple days. Fury asked me to help him with a delicate extraction. If I'd known he meant you, I'd have told him no on the spot."

"Because I'm obviously the typical recruit for HYDRA," Jasper replied with a snort. "Look at me, man. I am not the target demographic. At all."

"Doesn't matter. All that does matter is that you were serving HYDRA. You and your cronies tried to kill me and Captain America." Wilson didn't look like he was going to yield at all. Jasper sighed and prepared to do battle. But Director Fury leaned forward in his chair and sent a dark look toward the two of them. 

"Children. Enough of this petty squabbling," he told them, tone firm and filled with the authority that had served him well as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and when he was dealing with prima donna superheroes. "Jasper was serving HYDRA because I needed a man on the inside. I needed to know what was going on inside my own organization. He was my eyes and ears. He's as much a HYDRA agent as Captain America is."

Fury's words saw Wilson relaxing just a little bit. He leaned back in his chair and uncrossed his arms. But he wasn't yet ready to buy Jasper's innocence. No big deal. There was time to work on that. When it became apparent that they weren't going to go after one another's throats again, Fury relaxed back into his chair and gave them a smile. "Good. Now that we're all trying to be adults, can we discuss the reason why we're gathered together?" 

"Yes, sir," Wilson said. 

"Can I have just a moment, sir?" Jasper asked, looking directly at Fury. The man stared at him through the lenses of his sunglasses, then heaved a sigh that suggested he was done with all this shit and motioned with one hand in a gesture that told him to get on with it. Jasper reached past him and put his hand on the laptop, and drew it toward himself. It didn't take long to bring up the web site that housed the information he was looking for. Then he slid the computer toward Wilson. "To prove to you that I am now, and always have been, loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Director Fury, enter 'PerfectPatsy' for the username. The password is 'StarkisanAss42'."

He waited while Wilson typed in the supplied information. When he was done, he looked up at Jasper expectantly. "Click the button in the top right corner."

Wilson did just that, eyes glued to the screen as it went through the secondary connection process. "This is a government web site." 

"It is," Jasper nodded. "Find Senator Stern's name and click it."

Wilson did as he was told. Jasper watched as he started to read the page that came up. As he did so, Jasper recited everything that was on that page from memory. It was a report detailing all of Senator Stern's shady dealings while in office. Jasper had come across his name more than once in reference to certain HYDRA agents and activities, and had given it to Director Fury in one of his many reports. It had been Fury's idea to write that anonymous letter and send it to a few different government officials. "Two days after I sent that report to half a dozen recipients, several agencies opened a secret investigation into Stern. Notice the date it was sent."

The man's eyes went back to the page. "Six months ago." He lifted his gaze to Jasper. "Senator Stern was arrested not long after the helicarriers went down."

Jasper stared at him intently. "If I was actually HYDRA, what possible reason would I have for getting Stern investigated?" 

He was silent for a while, seemingly deep in thought about the topic. After several long seconds, a broad smile broke over his face and he leaned forward, one hand extended across the table. Jasper shook it happily. "That's pretty awesome, man. I can't think of someone who deserved it more. I didn't really like Stern. He was a dick."

"He was a whiny dick," Jasper added. The two of them shared a moment of solidarity that was broken up by the sound of Fury shifting in his seat. Jasper looked up to find that he was frowning at them both intently. On the other side of the table, Colonel Rhodes was doing his best to hide a smile. 

"Great. Now that we're all friends again, can we get back to business?" His gaze slid between the two of them. Jasper nodded and sat back in his seat. Sam did the same. "Good. I don't have time to go into everything right now, Agent Sitwell. We've got a transport coming in in less than fifteen minutes, so I'm going to have to give you the short version. Captain Rogers decided to blow the lid on both S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDA. Which meant dumping all of our files into the public domain. I had Natasha hold back a few important things, like the names of our undercover operatives and their objectives. But not all of our agents were lucky enough to remain anonymous. And those are the ones we have to save. It isn't going to be easy. And chances are good it'll get very, very ugly before its all over. We don't have many people and we don't have access to the same equipment we did just a few months ago." 

"I understand that, sir," Jasper replied. Fury frowned at him, obviously on the verge of telling him to stop addressing him so formally. But he didn't bother, probably because he understood that it would do him no good to make such statements. 

"You're not required to get involved with this. Its strictly voluntary." 

"So was infiltrating HYDRA. Somehow, I think this will be safer. And easier."

Fury stared at him for a few moments, then smiled and reached for the computer. Time to get down to business. Jasper glanced around at the other men gathered at the table. They weren't many. But they were good at what they did. He had no doubts that they could pull off the sorts of rescues that Director Fury had in mind. 

Jasper sat back in his chair and listened to Fury outline the plan for the next mission. It felt good to be part of something worthwhile again. It felt good to have direction. The S.H.I.E.L.D. he'd worked for and loved was nothing but a distant memory. But he was sure that Fury had plans to rebuild it. Make it better than before. And Jasper felt that the new S.H.I.E.L.D. was something that he'd be proud to be a part of. He was going to do everything he could to help see Fury's plans come to fruition. 

It was good to be back in the saddle again.

**Author's Note:**

> also, one last thing. #trustSitwell! #IbelieveinSitwell! after all, his patsy IS legendary.


End file.
